Journal Questions

Journaling is like whispering to one’s self and listening at the same time.
Mina Murray from Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Journaling and self-reflection are a wonderful way to help creatively document your thoughts and feelings and to help drive them where you want to be – whether or not you think you’re creative. It only needs a few minutes of your day and it doesn’t matter what you write – the process of doing it is what’s important. Writing down a few lines on gratitude and the positives in your life and reflecting on your thoughts or what you’re finding difficult can help you to find space and connection. Be committed to journaling once you start, but if you find yourself missing a day or two, have compassion for yourself but ask yourself if there’s anything that’s stopping you or holding you back.

I have included a number of actions to try and include into each day as well as a list of journal questions.  I suggest picking 1 or 2 journal questions each day to start and see how you go!

Actions

• Write down five things you are grateful for. Try to repeat this every morning; you can even include your children in this activity if you’re a parent. Avoid repetition as much as possible. Details are good!
• Reflecting on your day, write down five good things that happened. If this feels like a struggle or if you’ve had a really difficult day, keep it simple. For example, ‘had a nice meal, took a warm shower, made the bed’. This practice is at its most powerful on the days we find the hardest. This is when we can start to see the light amongst the clouds.
  

Questions

1. What three things are you going to work on this week?
2. What are your top five short term goals?
3. What are your top five long term goals?
4. What are five things you love about yourself?
5. What are five things you love about someone else?
6. What activities would you love to try but haven’t made time for?
7. What can you do today to step out of your comfort zone?
8. What positive habits would you like to adopt?
9. How can you build more happy habits into your morning routine – for example gratitude, phone-free time, meditation?
10. What are five things you can’t live without?
11. Who are the three people you would like to thank who had a positive impact on your life?
12. What affirmation do you want to live today by? This can be anything that resonates with you, such as:
    

• I am strong
• I am the architect of my life. I build its foundation, I choose its contents.
• I am courageous and I stand up for myself.
• I acknowledge my own self-worth.
• I have strength. I have clarity.
• I can do this.
• I do not fear the fire, I am the fire.
• I am good enough.
• I always have the power to change my story.
• If I fail, I will fail forwards.
• I am not my mistakes.

Hannah x